Nobody asked me but ...

Wednesday, June 21, 2006Chris Moore

Nobody asked me but...Sikeston has been a perennial power in high school baseball. In recent years, the Bulldogs under head coach Kevin Self have finished second, third and fourth in the Class 3 state finals.

Blake DeWitt is on the fast track in the Los Angeles Dodgers farm system. Jacob Priday was a key member of the University of Missouri baseball team that made it to the NCAA Super Regionals for the first time ever.

Lance Rhodes played for St. Louis University which made the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 40-plus years.

Jamie Puckett was recently named MVP of his Blackburn College team. Numerous other Sikeston graduates have gone on to play baseball in college. Why is Sikeston cranking out solid baseball players? I have an idea.

The Sikeston Area Youth Baseball, or as I like to call it "Little League," is a superior starter league for Sikeston youth.

Sikeston kids have an extremely well-organized league in which to get the basics of baseball.

Taking a trip out to the Sikeston Complex one gets the idea that thousands of people are attending these games. It might be the best Little League in the area, if not the state.

* A fast-growing sport in Sikeston as far as participants, is soccer.

The recent youth camp run by high school coach Derrick Long had hundreds of would-be players running around on the field. The allure of soccer seems to be that the sport has a position for any player, no matter size or speed.

* Kudos to Sikeston's Jordi Ferrell for making the All-State Second Team for Class 1 in soccer.

Ferrell has put in a lot of time and effort recovering from a torn ACL a season ago. The sophomore midfielder earned the selection through pure hard work and dedication.

Congratulations should go to Ferrell and Abbi Keefer for making the All-

Region team. The sky is the limit for Keefer, who as a freshman was a leading scorer for the Lady Bulldogs.

Girls soccer is on the rise in Sikeston. It should make for an interesting season next year.

* The NBA has finally found a successor to Michael Jordan, Dwyane Wade has already mastered the Jordan push-off.

On Wade's final drive to the basket in Game 5 against the Mavericks, did anybody notice Wade's stiff-arm of Dallas' Jason Terry into the front row?

I believe any fair-minded sports fan would admit the officiating was obscene in Game 5.

The Wade push-off was only the beginning.

Have NBA refs forgotten the basics of basketball officiating?

Whatever happened to a backcourt violation?

Mavs owner said it correctly when he stated that a high school ref could make the call on Wade when he "appeared" to not establish position in the backcourt before accepting the pass.

I will not address the "so-called" foul on the Mavs against Wade. If you can't say anything nice...

And finally, nobody asked me but...I hope sports fans still remember Len Bias. After being drafted by the Boston Celtics from Maryland 20 years ago this week, Bias decided to celebrate with cocaine. He lost his life that night. Huge potential unfulfilled, a mother without a son. A waste.